However, the degree to which the Sole Survivor's pre-War life is set in stone also makes it harder for players to immerse themselves in that player character if they had something else in mind for their backstory. Like their player character and unlike the Courier, the player's complete lack of familiarity with the open world they're entering makes a lot more sense.

The fact that the player starts before the Great War of 2077 has its advantages in terms of immersion. The player's family is completely prescribed at the start of the game - they have a heterosexual spouse and a young child, Shaun. In contrast, Fallout 4's introduction is far more prescriptive than both Fallout: New Vegas and arguably the Fallout games preceding it. However, it also makes the Courier a uniquely flexible protagonist in the franchise, a blank slate more akin to most Elder Scrolls' characters than Fallout games. In fact, pursuing the man who once shot them in the head could understandably be the last thing on the Courier's list.

This comes with pros and cons: There is far less reason to be driven to complete the main quest of Fallout: New Vegas at first than most other Fallout games. The personality of the Lone Wanderer from Fallout 3 may have largely been under the player's control, but they are always a 19-year-old who grew up in Vault 101 and is leaving in pursuit of their missing father, James. It is one of the few Fallout intros that doesn't begin in a Vault-Tec vault, leaving the player character's identity and past in the hands of the player far more than most installments in the series. This introduction is notably non-prescriptive, even for a Fallout game. They awaken in Doc Mitchell's office in Goodsprings, determine their appearance and basic stats, and are sent out into the Mojave Wasteland with a single objective should they choose to pursue it - finding Benny. Fallout: New Vegas starts with the Courier being shot in the head and left for dead by Benny and his associates. Fallout 4 and New Vegas begin in two very different ways.

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